Gibbon Experience 3

Day 48 (17/05/08): Gibbon Experience, Bokeo Park & Huay Xai, Laos

We all woke early with the morning sun, and Max our guide zipped in, ready to take us 'Gibbon Hunting' again. The girls didn't want to come, so it was just us guys. We were ready in our harnesses, and under Max's instruction, sitting very quietly in our treehouse, waiting. And then we heard it, the distant sound of a single gibbon singing in the morning. With that we all sprang into action. Ignoring the standard rules of one person at a time, Max threw us all down the zipline as fast as we could each clip on. Down on the jungle floor we followed the sound, which had now grown in cacophany as several gibbons joined in. We turned off the main path, and climbed and slid our way down a steep hill, towards the source of the amazing howling, whooping and shrieking of the gibbons. Whenever they paused in their singing, we would freeze and not make any noise. When the singing resumed we would continue down, trying to make as little noise as possible. We probably got to within 50m of the gibbons, whne they decided to move on. I managed to see just a few fleeting glimpses of gibbon silhouette against the morning light, and then they were gone. However, it was worth it just for the singing. The gibbons are incredibly loud when they sing, and have a big vocal range. All the more impressive was how the group of them all sang together, one gibbon would start off with some low notes, before all the others would slowly join in, building to a brilliant crescendo of gibbon voices. It is incredibly eery, hiding in the fog of the early morning jungle, listening to this other-worldy song.

We clambered back up the hill, pulling ourselves up on the trees and vines, not worrying about making noise now. Being as 'zip-addicted'as we were, we went for a few more quick zips. There was a heavy mist this morning, and it was a great fun zipping through the mist above the treetops. Although as we found out, the first person down the zipline gets completely soaked, as all the condensed water on the zipline sprays into you. At about 9am all others came over for breakfast, and the 13 of us enjoyed our last meal together in the treehouse. It was then with much sadness that we all packed our bags and had the last zip out of our treehouse. A short walk back to the base camp to drop off our harnesses, and an easy hour walk back to the main village. After all the walking over the past few days, this last walk was easy for everyone. There was only one four wheel drive to take us back, and so instead of all cramming in, Garth (the Canadian in the group), and I jumped on the roof and enjoyed the ride back getting a great view and dodging all the low lying branches.

Back at the main road, and we had lunch at a small shop, before the first of us 'Gibboners' (as we had taken to calling ourselves) had to part ways. There were three going North, while the rest of us were going back to Huay Xai. At least we could all fit in the jeep now, and we spent most of the trip already reminiscing about how much fun we had just had, and how it was one of the most amazing experiences we had ever done. Back in Huay Xai, and most of us checked into the same guesthouse. We all went out and had dinner together, and then had a good party on the upstairs balcony of our guesthouse.

Gibbon Experience 2

Day 47 (16/05/08): Gibbon Experience, Bokeo Park, Laos

I woke up at a very early hour to the sound of Owen zipping out of our treehouse. Our guide would be coming around at 6am to take us on a walk to try and find gibbons, but in the meantime we still had half an hour, and so the rest of us guys threw on our harnesses and did the quick loop to Treehouse 2 and back again. It was brilliant zipping in the early hours of the morning, the air was crisp and dew covered all the ziplines. We got back just in time for our guide, Max, who then took us on a walk in the jungle. The best time to spot gibbons is in the early hours of the morning, when they sing. Gibbons literally do sing duets, the males and females each having different parts. Because the jungle is so dense, and the gibbons are so high up, it is impossible to spot them during the day, so the only way is to listen for their singing in the early morning. Alas, even though we walked very quietly through an area that Max said there are normally gibbons, we didn't spot or even hear any. It may have been because of all the noise we made in the night, oh well.

Another few zips on our own, then back to our treehouse for breakfast, consisting of steamed rice and vegetables. Being our full day in the jungle, we now had the choice of two treks we could do. One would take us down some ziplines to Treehouse 5, the newest and biggest treehouse overlooking a great valley, and then an 1.5 hour walk back. The other option was to walk for several hours to the waterfall, go on the really big ziplines there, and then walk back for several hours, overall a long day. The people in the other two treehouses decided on the easy walk, but we were all quite keen to go down to the waterfall, so shortly after breakfast, we stocked up on water (the tap water in the tree house was safe to drink), and we set off. The walk was actually quite easy, it was downhill for most of the way, and the Laos scenery is fantastic. Along the way Max also pointed out some of the more interesting plants and insects, and we even ate the stalk of one of the edible plants. It tasted like bland celery.

The Gibbon Experience has two different areas of operation, the 'classic' and the 'waterfall'. We were doing the classic, and staying in that area. But now we were getting the best of both, by walking all the way to the waterfall area. Personally I think the 'classic' area is a nicer place to stay, and the ziplines are more accesible, allowing for a lot of zipping. Howerver the ziplines at the waterfall area are huge. And when I say huge, I really mean huge! They were all at least 300m long, with the longest one touching 400m. The highest one went from one big hill/mountain, all the way over the valley and the river, to the hill on the other side. It is supposedly 1000 feet high, or just over 300m. You literally felt like you were flying. We did about 7 different zips in this area, they follow a big long circuit that takes about an hour to do, including all the walking between ziplines.

We came to the waterfall itself, and all the guys jumped in for a swim in the large swimming pond. There was a bamboo raft there that had seen better days, but it didn't stop us from all trying to sit on it and keep it upright. 'Bamboo submarine' is probably a better term for it, and much hilarity ensued as the raft lost all stability with 5 guys on it. Lunch was more sticky rice and vegetables, at one of the little village camps where the food is cooked for the 'waterfall' area. We then had the walk back, the first hour or so was flat, and then we got to the big hill that had taken us 40 minutes to walk down. We all split up at this point, everyone going their own pace. Joe and I soon were at the front, and decided it would be a lot easier if we just power walked and ran our way up the hill. This way we did the whole thing in less than half an hour. Joe and I got back to our treehouse, and had enough time to have a shower and a few hot chocolates before the others started arriving. Treehouse 2 and 3 came over as well, and the whole group sat and chatted while our Treehouse had our dinner. The others had to leave before dark, and having no whiskey for the night, we spent a quiet night chatting and listening to the jungle sounds.

Gibbon Experience

Day 46 (15/05/08): Gibbon Experience, Bokeo Park, Laos

The previous night ended up being quite a good one. Walking out of my guesthouse, and the first person I walked into was Sian, who I had spent ten hours with on a third class train, and later met in Koh Phangan and Khaosan road. Yet another example of traveling being a very small world. She was with an English and Dutch guy, and so we went out for a great meal and finished the night having a few drinks on the roof of their guesthouse.

It was then an early start for me. I had to be at the Gibbon Experience early in the morning, and so after checking out, and having a banana pancake for breakfast, myself and twelve other travelers gathered in the small office. We were shown a safety instruction video, and then we all piled into two four wheel drives for the 2 hour journey to Bokeo Park. We all got to know each other very quickly and everyone in the group got on really well. We would be spending the next three days living in close proximity in tree huts, so that was a very good thing. We turned off the main road, drove through a river, and then had a very windy and bumpy trip down a muddy track. In the wet season, this can be too much for a vehicle, and instead you have to do a 5 hour trek. We were lucky, it had been dry and the vehicle managed fine, although the occupants got quite shaken up. At the local village we got out and had a 40 min trek into the jungle to the Gibbon Experience base camp. Here we were given our harnesses and split into three groups, one for each tree hut. There were 13 of us in total, I was in Treehouse 1 with 5 others, Treehouse 2 was the honeymoon suite with just one couple, and Treehouse 3 had the remaining 5.

For those readers who don't know, the Gibbon Experience is part of the Bokeo Conservation Project. Basically, for 2 nights and 3 days, you live in a treehouse and explore the jungle by zipping down giant ziplines. This was you are above the canopy level, and are treated to fantastic views.

Our first zip was quite a short one directly into our treehouse. One by one, we each clipped our harnesses onto the zipline, and tentatively threw ourselves off the launching platform to whizz through the trees and land in our treehouse, which was at least 60m above the ground. The treehouse was very nice. A small communal area with a sink, running water and a gas stove and kettle, a food box filled with snacks and fruit, an upstairs area with a double bed, and then a lower area with two more double beds and a small bathroom with shower. The bathroom itself had a slotted wooden floor, and the shower water just fell down to the ground, as did any other 'things' one would normally dispose of in a bathroom.

Our guide then took us around a few more ziplines, and after that we were allowed to go by ourselves. We immediately set off and spent the whole afternoon zipping around the forest. The main loop we did took us to treehouse 2, using 7 ziplines and taking about 20 mins. The ziplines are all obviously one way, and so a little bit of walking is needed to gain the necessary height to come back down another zipline in the opposite direction. These ziplines were very long and high, the longer 4 all being about 300m long, and getting close to 100m high, as they zipped from one ridge across the valley to another ridge. I will try and use words to describe it, but ultimately it is something that words will never do justice to. Imagine literally flying above a huge tropical rainforest, getting a birds eye view of the giant trees and dense bush, while in the distance is a stunning landscape of the Laos mountains covered in low cloud and further jungle. Above the high pitched whine of the zipline, you can hear the endless multitudes of insects and birds in the jungle below you. The wind rushes past you as you gather speed fly over the jungle, before the incline increases and you slowly come to a stop on the far side. Still buzzing with adrenalin, you quickly disconnect your harness and safety rope from the zipline, and very quickly walk up the hill to zip back across the same valley. It is unlike anything else I have ever done in my life, and it is something I will always remember.

After traveling the same ziplines a few times, we we knew them well enough and started taking videos and photos, which while they are fantastic, once again do not do any justice at all to the actual real event. A very early dinner was brought out to our treehouse by the guides, and we tucked into our meal of rice and vegetables, which is what we would be eating for the remained of our time here. It was still very early, and so we jumped back on the ziplines to visit Treehouse 2, where we stayed and chatted and had tea. All in a tree house 60m above the ground. Very surreal. Down we zipped and trekked down the hill to Treehouse 3, who were a bit secluded in their own little valley, and chatted to them for a while.

It was now getting close to sunset, and so we walked back up the hill, and did our final few zips for the day in the twilight. On one of the zips we could look over to the mountains, and see the sun setting in the distance. A magic moment. We made it back to our treehouse just before dark, which was very lucky as their are strict rules about not zipping at night (it is quite dangerous as you can't see where the zipline ends). The six of us from our Treehouse spent the night chatting, and drinking the bottle of whiskey that a very smart cunning person (such as myself) had brought in. We all got on very well and had a great night. Our Treehouse comprised of myself, two English guys (Joe and Justin), two French girls (Anna and Laurie), and another Kiwi (Owen). Owen and I actually found out that we both did Engineering at Canterbury Uni at the same time, and know a lot of the same people. In fact we probably passed each other in the hallways a hundred times. Another case of the world being very small.

While the French girls in the upstairs bed, and the two English guys worried about all the bugs, spiders and beetles in the forest, myself and Owen, being two Kiwis used to camping and living outdoors, didn't worry a bit, and we all retired to bed after a thoroughly amazing day and a great night.

Going to Laos

Day 45 (14/05/08): Chiang Khong, Thailand - Houay Xai, Laos

Just a brieft post here. I am currently in Chiang Khong in Thailand, doing some last bits of organisation before I cross the Mekong river this afternoon into Laos, the fourth country of my trip. Laos has no ATMs and so I need to cash some travellers cheques into US dollars, which are accepted all over Laos. There isn't much at all in Houay Xai, so I am spending most of my time on the Thai side. I've heard there is only one computer connected to the internet there available for public use. I will spend the night in Houay Xai, and then in the morning start my Gibbon Experience adventure for three days. After that I will take the two day slow boat down to Luang Prabang, which is quite a developed tourist destination. So don't expect any updates from me for a little while!